Sunset at Gowanus Bay

Sunset at Gowanus Bay
Sunset at Gowanus Bay, Henry Gritten, 1851

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

New York City Collegiate Reformed Church Brower/Brouwer Baptisms 1801-1811

The Collegiate Reformed Church of America in New York City has provided many records which are helpful to Brouwer researchers. Baptisms, which list the parents’ names including the mother’s maiden name, as well as sometimes the sponsors’ names can help piece together families. Unfortunately the publication of Collegiate RCA baptism records (Ancestry.com, New York Genealogical and Biographical (NYG&B) Record, etc.) do not exist past 1800. By examining page 240 of The Iconography of Manhattan Island, we can see what Collegiate records do exist, whether they are published or not. Baptism records exist through 1893.

Fortunately there is a little known unpublished manuscript in the NYG&B special collection at the New York Public Library titled, “New York City Dutch Reformed Church baptisms, 1801–1811”. There is an index for this manuscript which was created in 2001 by Marian LoPresti and is part of the same collection.



The photograph above is from LoPresti's index page 6 and contains both Brower and Brouwer. When you see three people on the same page it is probably a baptism of a Brower/Brouwer child showing mother, father, and child. If there is a single person on a page it could be a mother using her Brower maiden name or could also mean a person has Brower/Brouwer as a middle name. Keep in mind there could also be more than one baptism involving a Brower/Brouwer on the same page. It is always best to view the actual document and not jump to conclusions.

If you are interested in getting a copy of the manuscript pages, contact manuscripts@nypl.org. There is a $10 fee plus a $0.50 per page charge. They will have you fill out a form. The details you need for the form can be found by searching the NYPL.org site for “New York City Dutch Reformed Church, 1801-1811 (baptisms)”.

I have already purchased copies of pages 352, 365, and 375 and found them very helpful in my research. If you are interested in a Brower on those pages please let me know.

BGB 611

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